The Shade of Orange
by Naeryse
Summary: Were you ever curious about the origins of Naruto’s orange jump suit? ItaNaru.


**Title**: The Shade of Orange

**Author**: Naeryse

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Pairing**: Itachi x Naruto

**Rating: **G

**Warnings**:

**Summary:** Were you ever curious about the origins of Naruto's orange jump suit? ItaNaru.

**A/N:** This is my first Naruto fanfic, uni has me stressed so I decided to write this.

**Disclaimer**: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, I own nothing.

The sun spilled its rays on the bustling citizens of Konoha, save one who lied snuggled under a tattered blanket of wool. One Uzumaki Naruto slipped slowly away from his sweet dreams of an all-you-can-eat ramen buffet into the present reality where he survived on his beloved ramen compliments to the third hokage that provided the young blonde with free ramen tickets for usage at Ichiraku's ramen stand.

Bless the old man, Naruto mused as he stretched groggily, sitting right up in his small bed. Every day the young blonde found him on the brunt of insults consisting of murderer, demon and monster, and they were always followed by cold glares oozing with raw hate from the villagers. Occasionally he would also get a lash or two from those brave enough to touch him but the boy never knew why, never knew why every one of them were so unkind to him with the exception of the third hokage.

Naruto would have those villagers recognise him one day; the dream that he would become hokage was one of the few things that comforted the young orphan in the absence of parents.

However people in rags were rarely of great influence and grudgingly Naruto slipped on his dingy white shirt which busted at the seams and his faded black shorts that were becoming a little bit too short. As much as his tight clothing restricted much of his movements, it simply was not enough to deter the energetic youth from his daily pranks.

Konoha's number one prodigy silently excused himself from the dinner table. Itachi would rather dine alone than having to evade the idle questions from his selfish clan members; the experience was suffocating, they all ready asked so much of him and the least they could do was to let him sate his hunger in peace.

The pale man, clad in the garb of the ANBU breathed in the luscious air of the darkening evening. As strange as it may seem the sharingan wielder felt more comfortable in his uniform than his civilian clothes which were all stamped with his family crest. The pony tail of dark tresses fell off the young's man back as he raised his head to observe the sunset; it was a brilliant orange he mused.

Meanwhile a hyper blonde with two gallons of paint in hand ran as fast his tight shorts would allow him. His village was in need of some redecoration and Naruto sped through the streets with a wide grin, cocking his head from side to side in search of the ideal starting point. However he did not anticipate colliding into some idiot who decided to imitate a statue this time of night.

Naruto felt his very breath knocked out of him as he landed on his back and oh no the fear seized child stilled as he realised those borrowed tins of paint were about to knock him out. There was a loud crash but pain did not come and Naruto cracked open a curious eye to see red and yellow paint splattered upon the streets and a trail of an interesting shade of orange liquid where the two merged.

Itachi had scooped up the young boy into his arms and teleported to the other side of street to prevent further injury. The Uchiha would smile if knew how, at the comical sight of the boy's face when he finally realised that he was on his feet and eye to eye with his saviour.

Cerulean blue eyes widened in surprise, gratitude and humility as Naruto looked up into the onyx orbs of the most beautiful face he had ever seen. A raven haired teen, tall, slender and lightly muscled regarded him and if by their own accord Naruto's hands enveloped the ANBU captain into a tight embrace.

What was this? The Uchiha was stunned as he felt those small arms encircle his waist. No one had attempted to hug him before, there were always praises for his skill but no one ventured to touch him and ironically this display of affection came from the one labelled demon. The Uchiha, however was not one to be fooled by appearances and was not shallow enough to judge the boy based on actions he had no control over as a baby.

Itachi did not reciprocate the hug but instead he ruffled the young blonde's unruly hair. The blonde let go, smiling widely at the stranger and the foreign yet comforting feeling of his hair being ruffled.

"Never stop smiling."

Naruto blinked twice, taken back by the shinobi's suave tone and the meaning behind his words. This was the first time he was positively acknowledged by any of the villagers and he wished to drown himself in these feelings of recognition and pride.

"Arigatou!"

"Huh?"

Naruto blinked thrice to realise the ANBU captain had vanished. Suddenly desperate and still feeling the lingering touch of the young man stroking his hair, Naruto ran off to find him.

Defeated, an exhausted Naruto limped to his humble apartment. The blonde had combed the entire village even giving up his precious pranks in hopes to find the raven haired stranger who had been the second person to be so kind to him in all his eight (8) years.

A tide of depressing thoughts of cruel fate overwhelmed the poor boy after his unceremonious descent to his bed resulted in a rip to his only shirt. Azure eyes opened slowly to investigate the damage when a hint of orange set them open all the way.

Five orange jumpsuits lied neatly folded on his bed. Apparently Naruto did not take heed of them in his previous depressed state. Excitedly, Naruto hugged the materials to his chest. Someone somewhere had observed his shabby clothing and had gotten him new clothes. He had been acknowledged once more.

Deep feelings of appreciation and wonder filled the boy's heart and his lips curved into a beautiful smile.

Elsewhere the sharingan wielder sheathed his katana; his uniform would undoubtedly have orange stains after the first couple of washes, since that was the case with blood. It did not bother him since he rather liked the colour and his new cloak covered his stained apparel quite perfectly.

Taking one last look back at Konoha, Itachi thought of the blonde and his last act of humanity, he could almost see the blonde's smiling face.

THE END

A/N: I suppose Naruto's shirt could have been ripped before but it finally gave out in that point in time in the story. Thank you for reading.


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